Could It Be You
by Tabbycat2000
Summary: A really stupid story interspersed with bits of the NSYNC song Could It Be You. If you hate NSYNC don't read this, otherwise, please R/R!!


Draco sat at the small table, cheek resting on his hand, eyes staring boredly into the space directly in front of his face and not an inch further

Could It Be You

Draco sat at the small table, cheek resting on his hand, eyes staring boredly into the space directly in front of his face and not an inch further.

He was bored.His date, a Ravenclaw fourth-year, had run off with George Weasley and he hadn't seen her since.Not that it mattered.He couldn't even remember the girl's name.All he remembered about her was that she was overly bubbly, had flaming red hair, lots of freckles, and a penchant for peanut butter and orange sundaes.

Wait, his date hadn't been a redhead.

My date wasn't bubbly at all.She had brown hair, no freckles, and she thought Voldemort had created all fatty food himself.

So… who in the world was this freckled imp drifting through his otherwise empty mind?

Ah.There she was.No wonder he was thinking about her.She was pretty.

Recognition set in and Draco smacked himself mentally.Ginny Weasley is not pretty, you moron.She's a freckled little Mudblood lover who worships Potty.

What an interesting visual… 

Draco sighed.He really needed to lay off on the butter beer.

_Could it be you_

_I've been searching so hard to find_

_Tell me how could I have been so blind_

_You were here all the time (you were here all the time)_

_Could it be you_

Draco pushed his drink away and stood up, deep velvety green dress robes swirling around his legs as he did so.

The band began playing a rather upbeat song and couples began drifting from their tables to the makeshift dance floor.

They all looked happy.Bah.Happiness was a futile waste of time, because when the momentary mirth vanished, your problems reared back up and bit you in the rear with twice the ferocity as usual.

Everyone was dancing now.Even Professor Dumbledore was shimmying around the Great Hall with a giggling Madame Pomfrey on his arm.Crabbe was off dancing with Millicent Bulstrode, Goyle with Blaise Zabini. And the Ravenclaw he had brought as his date was busting a move with one of the Weasley twins, he couldn't tell which.

Draco plopped back down in his seat with a sigh.He began seriously contemplating just going back to his dormitories and drowning his woes in a large glass of chocolate milk, when he saw her.

She was sitting by herself at a table across the Hall, staring at her glass with a forlorn look on her face.Her wild, fiery hair was floating in a long curly cloud behind her, studded with glittery butterflies.

She looked just as lonely as he felt.And for the first time in his life, he felt like going over there and making her feel better.

Then, with a heavy sigh, she stood and began moving for the doors.

Draco's breath caught in his throat.

Great Wizards!Since when did Weasley get so gorgeous? 

_You never looked as good to me_

_As you looked to me as you looked tonight_

_Oh yeah_

_It's like I've seen ya for the first time through a lover's eyes_

She was still as small as ever, still the tiny little imp he knew and had a mild (though now earth-shattering) crush on (though he'd never admit it) but somehow she'd transformed into some otherworldly creature.She wore snowy white dress robes with medieval style sleeves and beautiful silver embroidery along the edges of her sleeves and the hem of the robe.She looked like a druid, but an extremely beautiful one.

It looked like she was leaving.Well now, that wouldn't do at all.Draco stood and hurried after her, hitching up his dress robes to keep from tripping over the velvety materiel.

"W- I mean Ginny!Wait!"

The redheaded fairy paused, then slowly turned.Recognition flooded her features, swiftly followed by chilling indifference.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" she said coolly.

_I didn't think of this one, thought Draco.He had left her alone for the last year and half, not even looking at her crooked, but evidently she was still sore at him._

"Oh, not much," he said casually, sticking his hands in his pockets."Just a dance partner."

Indifference changed to incredulity.Draco suddenly noticed that her eyes were a clear, deep brown, one that he'd never encountered before.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, cocking an eyebrow."Haven't you got some Slytherin ninny to go dance with?"

"In case you haven't noticed, everyone has already paired up," replied Draco immediately."It's terribly lonely, sitting there by myself with nothing to do but what everyone else have fun."He held out a hand to Ginny."Please?"

_How could it be that I never knew_

_It's always been you that I've been looking for (I've been looking for)_

_You were always right here by my side_

_Oh yeah_

Ginny saw the silent hope and wariness in Malfoy—no, Draco's—bright silver eyes, like mirrors.She bit her lip, teetering on the mental line between refusal and acceptance, before toppling over to one side of the boundary.

"All right," she conceded, taking Draco's offered hand, "but if this is just some ploy to get at me or Ron or anyone else, you're dead," she added.Her tone was anything but convincing.Draco smiled.

Ginny bit back a cry of surprise.She'd never seen him truly smile before, just nasty little smirks that made him look like a pale gargoyle.The small smile seemed to light up his whole face in a way that Ginny thought absolutely wonderful.

Draco gave a mental sigh of relief.Gripping Ginny's small hand, he gently guided her to the dance floor.The band was playing a fast song that put both in mind of laughter and energetic games of hide and seek.

_He's not that bad of a dancer thought Ginny absently as she kept time to Draco's steps.Just then he tripped and went careening into a Hufflepuff seventh year._

Ginny laughed."Be careful!"

Draco picked himself up, laughing despite himself."Don't know how."

_Could it be you_

_I've searching so hard to find_

_Tell me how could I have been so blind_

_You where here all the time_

The song switched to another, this one obviously Muggle in origin, with sharp drumbeats and a carefree spirit to it.

Draco grinned evilly and took Ginny's hands.Ginny shook her head, knowing full well what he was going to do.

"Don't you d-"

Draco swung her in a sharp circle and her words were drowned out in the delighted shriek that she voiced.Draco laughed.

Ron craned his neck to see what was going on.He saw a pair of kamikaze teenagers spinning in a circle like idiots, one with silvery hair, the other with a long banner of solid fire streaming out behind her.Both were laughing.

"Stop it!" laughed Ginny.Draco let go of her hands and her momentum sent her tumbling.Draco stopped her before she knocked over a little blonde third-year.

"Fun?"

Ginny looked torn between consternation and hysterical laughter.She smacked him lightly on the shoulder."Jerk," she pouted.

"What?"

A wide grin split Ginny's impish freckled face."This."She jerked her arm around, making several students stare at her as if she was a few hairs short of a wig.

Draco shook his head, still grinning. "You're weird."

_Could it be you_

_The girl I've always had dreams about_

_The one I just can't live without_

_Is it so tell me now_

_Please tell me_

_Could it be you_

"That's the point," agreed Ginny."Otherwise no one would know who I was."

The fast song came to a close.This time the band began a slow song, the lyrics wistful.Ginny and Draco looked uncomfortable at each other.

"May I have this dance, m'lady?" asked Draco impishly, bowing low.Ginny giggled and nodded.

"You may."

Draco straightened and took Ginny's hand.Ginny chewed her lip, not knowing what in the world she was supposed to do, but she mimicked the other girls and placed her hands on Draco's shoulders.She twitched slightly when she felt Draco's at her waist, not used to being touched like that.She suddenly realized how much taller Draco was compared to her.

They moved gently to the music, their movements so synchronized that they might as well have been one person.

Draco had never admitted it, not even to himself, but this one dance was something he'd wanted to do for the past year and a half.

Sure, she was a Gryffindor, daughter of his father's worst rival, a Mudblood-lover, and part of Potter's entourage.That didn't matter anymore.Just that for now, he could dance with her.

_Can you imagine what its like_

_To always live without love_

_Ooh_

_I need to have you in my life_

_I think I know that now_

_My open heart_

_Can make you a part_

_A part of this love that I've been keeping (I've been keeping for)_

Ginny let out the smallest of small contented sighs.So he was a Slytherin.Big deal.Her brother's worst enemy.So what.She let herself get caught up and swept away in the moment.A moment that, so help her, she never wanted to end.

She couldn't put herfinger on it, but something being here, wrapped in Draco's gentle embrace felt so… right.

She had never felt so safe before, as if nothing in the entire world could hurt her.Not even when she was a little girl and she would sneak into Charlie's room and sleep at the foot of his bed had she felt like this.

Draco never wanted this to end, but he knew it couldn't last.And that hurt.Especially since they had no real control over what happened to them.When he thought about it, actually, it was rather frustrating as well.

_Quit it, Malfoy, thought Draco.__Just worry about here and now._

Draco rested his chin atop Ginny's fiery head and closed his eyes, letting out a soft sigh.She was so close, but so far away at the same time.

The song drifted to a close and they stepped away from each.Ginny saw the strange emotions conflicting in Draco's silvery eyes.

"It's been real," she said softly.Then she turned and walked off the dance floor.

Draco wanted to call her back, wanted to do _something, but all words rushed from his mind.He watched her walk away, watched the way her hair rippled like water but looked like raw fire as she moved.Then he turned and walked back to his table._

_Ooh I might just give it all to you_

_Ooh_

_Could it be you_

_I've searching so hard to find_

_Tell me how could I have been so blind(so blind)_

_You where here all the timehere all the time(here all the time)_

_Could it be you_

"Well, that was interesting," Draco told the empty butter beer bottle before him."Is there a genie in there?'Cause if there is, could you get her back over here so I won't be a lonely piece of pond scum anymore?"

He'd never had as much fun as he had dancing with the fiery imp that was Virginia Weasley.He hadn't had to hide behind the façade he had lived behind for so long,He could actually be a real person, rather than an automaton who did his father's every wish.

Happiness is fleeting, all right thought Draco bitterly.Now I feel even worse, because I know what it feels like to be with her.

"No genie, hmm?Not even a fairy godmother?"

Draco let out a something between a sigh and a raspberry and cast his eyes around the Great Hall.There was still a mob of people dancing to the fast beat of some song he didn't recognize, along with a healthy assortment of students hiding in dark corners and snogging.

Ginny was back at her table, holding a ring between her fingers and turning it so that it caught the dim light a refracted it into a thousand little fairies made of light.

"Draco?"

Draco looked up and saw the Ravenclaw he'd brought with him to the dance.

"Yes?" he replied, trying to look politely inquisitive when he really didn't give a rat's rear about what she had to tell him.

"I'm going back to my dormitory.I don't need an escort.Good-night."With those soft-spoken words, she disappeared fro view.

"See if I care," muttered Draco.He looked back to where Ginny had been, but she had vanished.

Draco blew a stray lock of hair off his forehead and looked back at the bottle.

"No fairy godmother, eh?How about a fairy godfather?Nah, I don't need a gangster giving me wishes, never mind."

"Draco?Are you okay?"

Draco looked up sharply, pale cheeks flushing.Ginny gave him an odd look.

"Uh yeah, I'm fine," he said quickly, smoothing back his hair as he usually did when he was nervous."What did you need?"

"Nothing.I just wanted to say goodnight before I left."

"Oh.Well, goodnight."

Ginny turned and began walking away.

_The girl's I've always had dreams about(I've been searching)_

_The one I just can't live without (ooh)_

_Is it so tell me now (is it so tell me now)_

_Yeah_

Draco stood up suddenly, recognizing that his last chance was about to slip through his fingers like quicksand.

"Ginny, wait."

Ginny stopped and turned, looking at him questioning.Draco thought he saw hope flicker through her bewitching brown eyes for an instant, but he wasn't sure.

"Would you like to go for a walk in the gardens?" he asked apprehensively.Ginny nodded, a wry smile on her face.

"I thought you'd never ask."

The headed outside, into the crisp night air that was scented with roses and gardenias.When they reached the garden Ginny plucked a rosebud off a bush and spun it between her fingers.

"I love it out here.Most nights it's so peaceful, and you just feel like you could reach up and pick a star as easily as you would one of the flowers."

"Yeah," Draco said."It is nice out here."

Ginny smiled up at him."Well, you're poetic," she joked lightly.

"Hey, I can be poetic," said Draco, feigning indignation.He cleared his throat dramatically while Ginny was busy giggling and began dramatically, "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art-"

Ginny smacked Draco playfully on the shoulder."That's Shakespeare Sonnet number eighteen," she said reprovingly."I meant stuff that you had made up.Never mind.I'd probably get something more along the lines of 'Ode to my Purple Pajamas' than true poetry."

"Oh ye of little faith," teased Draco, plucking the rosebud from Ginny's hand and deftly weaving it into her hair."Gimme a few weeks and I'll knock the socks off ol' Will Shakespeare."

"I wouldn't recommend trying," said Ginny dryly, "he's so dead that the smell would knock you out."

Draco smiled lightly."Really now?"

"Mmm hmm."

The continued their walk in silence.Halfway down the garden path Draco casually swung an arm across Ginny's shoulders and she started slightly.

"I had fun tonight," said Ginny softly."A lot more than I expected."

"In what way?"

"I came without an escort of any kind, as no one bothered asking me to accompany them," said Ginny, "and I hadn't planned on staying for that long, but then you showed up.The rest of the night has been wonderful."

Draco smiled slightly."The same for me.Literally.Oh, I had a date, but she ditched me for your older brother."

"Which one?" asked Ginny dryly.

"I think George."

"Ah."

Ginny looked up at Draco and noticed that he was watching her with a strange, preoccupied air about him.What was he thinking behind those silvery eyes?

_Every girl I meet_

_Though she might be sweet_

_They can't compare to you_

_So I search no more_

_What I'm looking for_

_I know I've found in you_

"Ginny would you mind to much if I did something very out of character?" asked Draco softly.Ginny looked up at him, puzzled.

"Everything you've done tonight has been out of character, Draco, but what is it?"

"This."

Almost instantly Draco's mouth covered her own in an intense kiss that stole her breath more readily than anything else she'd ever experienced.

After a moment Draco pulled back.Ginny blinked dazedly.

"Oh my," she said softly.

"What?"

Ginny grinned wryly."Quite an experience for my first kiss."

Draco laughed."Shall we make it your second, hmm?"

"Please do."

_Could it be you_

_I've searching so hard to find_

_Tell me how could I have been so blind(so blind)_

_You where here all the timehere all the time(please tell me baby)_

_Could it be you(could it be you)_

_The girl's I've always had dreams about_

_The one I just can't live without_

_Is it so tell me now_

After they broke apart the second time Ginny gave Draco an impish look that would have made the Weasley twins envious.

"I wonder what Ron will have to say about this."

Laughter echoed through the garden, the kind that burns itself into your memory.Several others in the garden smiled despite their ignorance of what was so funny.

And for once in his life, Draco realized what real happiness was.

Could it be you 


End file.
